Sue Fley reads Desperate Housewife in Holland blog

Imaginary friend Sue Fley read Desperate Housewife in Holland's blog and found out DHinHolland is obssessed with baking with flowers lately. 

Flower Genoise

My kids absolutely love Swiss Roll or Genoise. I always buy them but DH France swears it is easy to make. Just mix the ingredients (eggs, flour,sugar), bake, spread some jam or ganache and roll, that is all to it.

So okay, give me the recipe. But I wanted to experiment something I saw from what DH Germany showed me. Sakura on Genoise. And I just happened to have some Sakura flowers from DH Sweet Lake. But I wanted to kill two birds with a single stone. So I added some Pansies I planted. The results is beautiful. Although not perfect still pretty to look at.

Recipes and more perfect looking Genoise could be found at

 http://www.i-lostinausten.blogspot.com

Flower Macarons by DH in Holland

I am surrounded by macarons gurus. Conversation evolves around macaron could be long with them. If I stay long enough in the conversation I would want to make some too. Which I did. Unfortunately, only few (two) occasions made it to the grab the camera moment.

Despite the fact that I accomplished more failures than success I became very ambitious. MalayMui(DH Sweetlake) gave me some sakura flowers and said, I can't wait to see how you interpret this flowers. Not only I try Sakura flowers on the macarons, I tried dried rose buds and lavender too. My daughter says the lavender macarons taste and smell like soap.

They look rustic (in other words "burn"), don't they? Despite flaws here and there, I am truly satisfied with the taste. It taste good!

Susan(DH Germany) covered all the tips, dos and don'ts with a very good recipe here

Meanwhile, Lucinda(DH France) made the most exquisite and romantic macarons here

Now you really don't need any other reason not to, do you?

Sakura Mousse Cake by MalayMui (DH Sweet Lake)

Before I went away for my vacation, MalayMui (DH Zoetemeer/ DH Sweet Lake) gave me her recipe of Sakura Mousse Cake and some sakura flowers preserved in salt which she brought home with her from Japan. I was busy packing for my vacation and didn't post it here. Now that I have returned I am so glad MalayMui gave me this recipe as I won't be doing much cooking and baking now while I am unpacking. Here is what Malaymui wrote:

• • Cherry blossom (sakura) has a very special meaning in my life, simply because I was there in Tokyo and managed to experience the 6.8 magnitude earthquake. While there’s not much of damage in Tokyo city itself, the tsunami has brought forth a great damage and stolen thousands of life along the 550km coast line of North East Japan. It was a devastating but life changing experience that I was shortly recalled to my home country after the earthquake and manage to return to Tokyo in time to experience the peak of cherry blossom. Tokyo looked very different under the cloud of sakura and despite of the disaster just preceded the sakura blossom, the tokyonite has taken a very different attitude toward this year hanami where there’s almost no international tourist and that left the sakura viewing to just the local. Cherry blossom is short lived, the flower blossom never last for a few days and I was really blessed to be able to experience a Tokyo under the cloud of cherry flowers. Pale pink in colors, PRETTY and AWESOME!! It symbolizes a new life after the March 11th disaster and I know Japan will stand up again very quickly as a nation and will move on with the rest of the world.

    
    

    This recipe is inspired by cherry blossom, although at the time this cake is made, I already returned to my home base country and it’s already in the month of July. I made this cake for my birthday because it has a sentimental remembrance of my short but best time ever in Tokyo.

    This recipe calls for salted sakura flowers which may be hard to find at where ou are, but the cake is versatile enough to be substitute with other fruits, for example a strawberry, raspberry or mango depending on what fruit is in season at your area. In case you substitute, just make sure you also replace the wine for the bottom and the top accordingly.

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    Sakura Mousse Cake (for a 10 inch cake ring)

    Bottom

    B1. Mary Biscuit 100g, unsalted butter 60g, Plum wine 3 T

    B2. Bake or store bought a sponge cake and just brush with plum wine 3T

    Middle – Peach Mousse

    Flat peach 500g, raw cream 150g, plain yorgurt 150g, sugar 70g, white wine 4 T, almond essence 1T, powder gelatin 15 g

    Top – Cherry blossom jelly

    Salted sakura flowers, Kirsch liquor 3 T, lukewarm water 100ml, sugar 50g, gelatin sheet 3, pink color (optional)

    Method

    (A) bottom

    If you opt for (B1) then crush the biscuit to powder form, melt the butter in microwave to liquid form. Mix biscuit and butter together and press it down to the cake form and leave it in the fridge to set (at least an hour)

    If you opt for (B2) you can just bake/buy a sponge cake for the base in that case, omit the butter and biscuit just brush the sponge base with plum wine. It is not necessary to let it chill in the fridge but I did that just to harden the cake base.

    I did both with biscuit and sponge cake and prefer the sponge cake base.

    (B) Middle – peach mousse

    Heat white wine in low heat and put in gelatin powder (when it’s about 70C) when the wine is just warm enough to melt the gelatin powder. Set aside to room temperature.

    Remove skin and stone of the flat peach. In the blender add the flesh of the peach, yogurt, cream and sugar, blend for 1 min or till it is smooth, add gelatin and white wine mixture to blend for further 1 min.

    Pour the mousse to (A) and allow setting in the fridge. Allow at least one hour or longer time to set.

    (C) Top – Cherry blossom Jelly

    Prepare sakura flowers in advance. Soak in cold water to remove the excessive salt; this can be done a day in advance. Pat dry with kitchen roll or microwave to get the “blossom”.

    Soften the gelatin sheets in cold water.

    Warm water to 70C, add in sugar and gelatin sheet until completely dissolve.. Pour in the Kirsch liquor; add a drop of pink color or sakura powder to get the desire pink color. 

    Pour (C) on top of (B) and decorate with the sakura flowers as desired. Put the cake back to the fridge to allow the top layer to set.

    Best chill overnight.

    To serve, use warm clothes to warm the edge before removing the cake ring.

              Sakura Mousse Cake. What an elegant cake.

See these Japanese papers on the flowers cut out and my favourite, I use as a backdrop? MalayMui gave them to me. The design on the papers is so elegant and beautiful. Thank you MalayMui.


























































Yet another edible flower! I know Sakura is a very much celebrated flower in Japan but it can be preserved and consumed is new to me. Malaymui wanted to see me how I and few others DH interpret these flowers in the kitchen. I have to do some homework now, I can't dissappoint Malaymui, can I?